Grand piano casing construction



Oct. 31, 1939. E. WORTHINGTON GRAND PIANO CASING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 2, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 31, 1939B- E. WORTHINGTON GRAND PIANO CASING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 2, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M M W M Oct. 31, 1939. E. WORTHINGTON 2,178,214

GRAND PIANO CASING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 2, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Get. 31, 1939 UNlT STTfi PATET FFEQE GRAND PIANO CASING CONSTRUCTION Application February 2, 1938, Serial No. 188,276

15 Claims.

This invention relates to grand pianos, and more particularly to the construction of the easing of a piano of this type.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and arrangement whereby the top of the casing com-- prises a front cover section that is bodily removable, when necessary or desirable, and a rear cover section that is hinged at one side thereof to the upper edge of the adjacent side wall of the casing, so tha thi rear section may be swung upwardly into an inclined position while the front cover section remains in place in horizontal position on the front portion of the casing side walls, the adjacent edges of the two sections being formed to loosely fit together, when the swinging section is down, and the two sections eing ilush when the rear cover section is in closed position.

It is also an object to provide a novel and improved construction arrangement whereby the string plate of the piano, in rear of said front cover section, is provided with a cover and sound deflector that remains in place immediately above the string plate when said hinged cover section is swung upwardly into the open position thereof, said string plate cover and sound deflector being upwardly removable when such is necessary or desirable.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efliciency and desirability of a grand piano casing top construction of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings, in wln'ch- Fi l is a perspective of a grand piano having a casing top construction embodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the front cover section raised bodily, and showing a portion of the swinging cover section broken away to show the said string plate cover and sound deflector.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the said string plate cover and sound deflector.

Fig. l is an enlarged vertical section on line 4-4 in Fig. 1 of the drawings; showing the middle portion of the structure broken away for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical detail section on line 5-5 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the parts in different positions.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical detail or fragmentary section on line 5-7 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

8 is a horizontal detail section on line 8-8 in Fig. 7 of the drawings, iooking upward.

9 is a plan view of the piano casing, with a portion of the top thereof shown broken away for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section on line iii-iii in Fig. 9 of the drawings.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the casing shown in Fig. 9.

i2 is a perspective of a portion of the side wall of said casing.

As thus illustrated, the piano casing side wall structure i may be any suitable, known or approved form, and may have legs 2 and 3 of any suitabl character, it being observed that the casing is that of a grand piano in which the sounding board and string plate are disposed horizontally in the rear portion of the casing.

The top construction of the said casing comprises a front cover section that is pr vided on its under side with plates 5, each having a notch B to receive the books i that are inserted downwardly in the side walls of the casing, so that, by setting the cover section 4 down on the side walls, with the hooks l passing through the notches 5, this front cover section can then be shoved toward the rear of the piano to cause the hooks l and the plates to interlock in a manner shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings, thereby holding the said front cover section removably in place in a horizontal position at the front of the piano. By simply pulling the said section l outwardly over the keyboard 55, the section t can be disengaged from the said hooks, and can then be raised removed bodily.

In rear of the said cover section i, there is a hinged rear cover section 3 that is hinged at its left-hand side edge to the upper edge of the vertical side wall l of the piano casing by a hinge it, as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings. It will be seen that the outer edges of the cover section 9 may be formed by a reinforcing molding l l suitably secured to the edges of the cover section, extending from one front corner thereof to the other, and provided with engaging portions i2 adapted to rest upon the upper edge of the vertical side wall i of the casing, when this cover section ii is closed position, its open position being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In closed position, therefore, if desired, this rear top cover may serve as a resonator. The front edge it of this cover section 9, it will be seen, is formed on the line of a compound curve, thereby to loosely fit the similarly formed rear edge M of the front cover section 4, as shown in the drawings. Thus, the cover section 9 is dished or concave, so to speak, on its under side, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and it will be seen that the under side of the section 4 is of a similar character, inasmuch as the section 4 is provided at each end with a molding it suitably secured thereto, as well as along the front edge of the section, to which the previously mentioned plates 5 are secured on the under side thereof, as shown in Fig. '1 of the drawings.

Thus, the two sections 4 and 9 are flush on the top thereof when both sections are in closed position on the piano casing, but the section 9 can be raised, and held in raised position by a prop it, of any suitable character, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Preferably, a shallow well 11 is formed in the middle portion of the section 4, at the front edge thereof, and preferably this well H has louvres or sound outlet openings la in the bottom thereof. A fiat music rack i9 is hinged at its front edge to the section 4 at 25!, this rack being formed to lie flush in said well when in horizontal position. When the music rack is swung upwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings, it is held in place by a latch ill that engages the projection 22 on the under side of the music rack, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. When it is desired to lower the music rack into its flush position in the well ii, a button 23 is pressed downwardly, to operate the bell crank 24, which latter is pivotally connected with the other end of the latch 2!, so that the latter is caused to slide backward a distance in the guide 25 on the bottom of the cover section 4, so that the rack is then free to be swung downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

A string plate cover and sound deflector 23 is provided with metal engaging members 21 on the under side thereof, for engaging the spring clips 28 that are suitably mounted on the casing structure below, so that this cover 26 is removably held in place underneath the outside cover section 9 previously described. Preferably, as shown, this inside cover section 26 is dished or concave, so to speak, on its under side, as its side and rear edges are formed by a molding 29 suitably secured thereto, but the free edge 33 of this inside cover section does not have the said molding, and is formed with a compound curve similar to the compound curve of the: edge l3 previously described, so that when the cover section 9 is in raised position, the edge 33 follows the trend of the edge l4 previously described. The inside cover section 25 is preferably provided with sound outlets 3!, of any suitable or desired character, and in this way the section 26 serves both a string plate cover, to practically conceal the strings from view when the cover section 9 is in raised position, and also as a deflector for the sound waves. Also, it will be seen that the said prop i6 is advantageously hinged at its lower end to the upper surface of the inside cover section 26, so that this prop can be raised to hold the cover section 9 in an inclined open position.

Thus, the entire top cover construction of the casing comprises three distinct and separate sections, the front and rear outside sections, and the single inside section, which latter is immediately below the rear hinged outside section, with the curved side and rear edges of the section 26 disposed close to the inner surface of the vertical side wall I of the casing, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

So far as the said inside string plate cover 26 is concerned, in its broader aspects, it is obvious that the upper or outside cover construction can be of any suitable or desired character. However, when the top cover construction shown and described is employed, either with or without the inside cover section 26, then the meeting edges of the cover sections 4 and 9, and the adjacent edge 33 of the section 26, form a compound curve extending transversely across the top of the piano casing, with the said curve rounded toward the rear of the piano at the left thereof, but rounded toward the front of the piano at the right of the latter, in the manner shown in the drawings.

As shown in Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive, the casing of the piano has a special construction, as follows: The bent side wall section 32 is formed of one piece, and is continuous from the point 33 at the left of the piano, to the point 34 at the right thereof. The side wall 35 at the right of the piano is fiat, and has a front vertical molding portion 36, and a rear vertical molding portion 31,

as shown more clearly in Fig, 10 of the drawings. The reverse curve section 38 is interposed between the end of the section 32 and the edge of the molding section 31, these wall or molding sections being glued or otherwise suitably fastened together, as the material thereof is preferably wood. In this way, it will be seen, there is a relatively sharp angle between the sections 35 and 38, with only a short curvature between their adjacent vertical edges, so that the rounded vertical corner formed on the outside of the section 31 is comparatively sharp, and is the same in appearance as the rounded vertical corner provided by the vertical molding 36, at the right of the piano, and by the similar molding 39 at the left of the front of the piano, so that when viewed from above the piano has three comparatively sharp rounded corners, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, which in various ways is more satisfactory, not only in appearance, but also in the manufacture of building of the piano casing. For one thing, it will be seen that the double line l 430, which forms the previously described compound curve, terminates at the right of the piano, at the joint 34 between the vertical sections 32 and 38 of the casing side wall, so that the rear cover 9 only engages the upper edge of the side wall section 32, while the front cover 4 rests on the upper edges of the sections 35, 36, 31, and 38, at the right of the piano, but rests on the upper edge of the section 32 at the left thereof. Thus the front structure of the piano casing, and its top, are a well defined unit in structure and design, extending the maximum width of the piano, at the front of the latter, in rear of the cover 9 and the side wall section 32, the said front unit of the structure being deeper than the structure in rear thereof, as shown more clearly in Fig. 11 of the drawings.

Obviously, of course, the different novel features of the invention can be used either with the other features shown and described, or in other environment, as may be desired, without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the string plate cover and sound defiector 26 can be used either with or without a cover above it, for it is provided with the sound outlets 3| shown and described, and does not need to be raised or taken off when the piano is played, but it is preferable to provide this string plate cover and sound deflector with separable fastening and supporting means on its under side, so that this cover can be taken off bodily.

Looking at Fig. 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that the cover and sound deflector 26 is much thinner than the upper cover 9, and that the sound outlet openings 31 are formed in the top of the cavity on the lower side of this cover and sound deflector, so that the side vibrations fiow freely upwardly through said outlets, without having to pass downwardly and under the molding 29 of this cover. Preferably, the cover 26, like the entire piano casing, is made of wood, but with the cover 28 made of comparatively thin hard wood, as shown, it will vibrate when the instrument is played, and contribute a resonance that tends to improve the tone of the piano, as it takes on some of the function of the regular sounding board disposed below the strings of the piano, thus providing a vibratory board above the strings, in addition to one below. And this is true, of course, regardless of whether the piano is played with the cover 9 in closed position, or in open position, for in either case the sounding board function of the cover 2% is practically the same, for in either case it vibrates and deflects the sound waves upwardly through the sound outlets iii therein. If the cover it is closed, these sound waves emerge from between the upper edges of the side wall of the piano casing and the lower edges of the cover 9, as shown in Fig. i of the drawings.

It will be seen that a straight line from the point 3 to the point fill (see Fig. 9) is oblique or :diagonal, instead of parallel with the front of the piano, and that the double parting line I3, it follows the trend of this oblique direction, so that the point 34 is substantially in rear of the point 40, and that the inside cover 28 follows the outline of the outside cover 9, and that hence the raised front edge 3% of the inside cover follows said general oblique trend or diagonal line. Thus the sound waves are freely released from under said front edge 3%, and are allowed to escape through the openings H3 in the bottom board ii of the music rack well, while some of the sound waves also escape through the openings 3i adjacent the rear side edge of the inside cover. The latter may be nicely finished in keeping with the general exterior of the piano, and thus ornamental as well as mechanically useful. The curved section 38 is covered by the front cover section 4, instead of by the rear section 9, and thus the section t is wider at its right hand end than at its left hand end. Thus the said oblique or diagonal parting line between the two top cover sections characterizes or qualifies, more or less, the entire structure of the piano.

As the front edge of the inside cover section 26 extends a distance forward underneath the rear edge of the front top cover section 4, it is obvious that, with such construction, the said front cover section 4 must be removed before the inside front cover section 26 can be removed. Moreover, it will be seen that the front edge 3G is a distance back from the front of the piano, so that a tone chamber is formed below the inside cover section 26, with freedom of escape for the sound waves forwardly from this chamber into the space below the front cover section 4, and from said space the sound waves may escape through the openings [8 in the bottom of the music rack well formed in the front top cover section, so that these sound waves escape back of or behind the music rack when the latter is in raised position. The top wall of the inside cover section 26 is resilient or vibratory, as previously explained, but this entire cover section is formed of stiff and rigid material, such as hard wood, and constitutes a structural unit which can be removed as such from the inside of the piano casing. Thus the inside cover section not only covers the strings of the piano, and excludes them from view, but in addition forms a tone chamber below this section, thus in effect subduing the overtones, rather than augmenting them. This has the effect of a difference in tone quality, but with only slightly less, instead of more, volume, and with no undesirable effect on the sustaining quality.

With the construction shown and described, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that the top wall of the rear cover 9 is supported by the molding H, on the upper edges of the casing i, so that this top wall is spaced a distance above the plane of said upper edges of the casing. This is substantially true of the front cover, as here the top wall 4 is also supported by the molding l5, and hence the top wall t is spaced a distance above the said horizontal plane of the upper edges of the casing or body l of the piano.

It will be seen, therefore, that the horizontal wall 26 of the string plate cover acts as a resonator or soundboard, as well as a sound deflector, and in addition to its function of releasing the sound waves through the openings 3!, which latter are of fixed form and size. The said string plate cover and resonator is also of fixed form and shape, and while it is vibratory, in the wall 26 thereof, it is made all in one section, with no movable parts. In addition, the edges of the molding 9 are spaced from the sides I of the casing, and it will also be seen that the devices El and 23 are spaced from the sides of the casing, so that practically or in effect the vibrations of the wall 26 are not communicated to the piano casing. It will be seen, moreover, that the lower edges of the molding H are spaced a distance from the upper edges of the casing side walls 3, and that the front edge portion of the wall 28 is spaced a distance below the rear edge portion of the front top cover i, as shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. In this way the piano can be played with the rear cover 9 in either open or closed position, and in either case the vibratory wall 26 will function as a sound deflector and resonator and sound waves will escape from under the edges thereof and through the openings 3i, and also through the openings it, when the music rack is in raised position. Of course, there are occasions or circumstances under which it is desired to play the piano with a more or less modified volume of tone, as well as with the full volume thereof, and for the full volume the cover 9 will be held in open position.

It will also be seen that the front cover section 4 has, as shown in Fig. 9, for example, five corners, two front corners, and three rear corners. It will be seen that the third rear corner at 3 5 is farthest to the rear, and that the corner at 3? is between the corner at 34 and the front corner at 36, and in this way the front top cover section has two rear edges, one that meets the front edge of the rear cover section, and a comparatively or relatively short curved rear edge that extends over an inwardly curved upper edge of the side wall panel 38, the opposite ends of the latter terminating at the opposite ends of the said rear curved edge of the front top wall section of the front top cover section. What I claim as my invention is:

1. A grand piano provided with an inside string plate cover comprising a single fiat member all made in one section of fixed form and with a resilient horizontal wall forming in eifect a sound board resonator tone modifier that also conceals the strings when the piano top is open.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said wall having its rear marginal portion provided with sound openings of fixed size and shape.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said member being dished on its under side, so that said wall has a depending rigid support around the left and rear edges thereof, leaving its front edge free and unreinforced.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, said member having its left and rear edges spaced from the side wall of the piano casing, and means also spaced a distance from said casing wall to support the edge of said member.-

5. A structure as specified in claim 1, said member having its left and rear edges spaced from the side wall of the piano casing, and means also spaced a distance from said casing wall to support the reinforced edge of said member, said supporting means being separable to permit said member to be readily lifted bodily out of the piano.

6. A structure as specified in claim 1, having fastening means for said member to permit the latter to be readily lifted bodily out of the piano.

7. A structure as specified in claim 1, the front edge of said member extending a distance under the front top of the piano.

8. A structure as specified in claim 1, said member being practically triangular in plan view, with the left edge straight and the rear edge curved, and having a three point suspension support practically at the corners of the triangle.

9. A grand piano provided with front and rear top covers, the left hand edges of said covers forming a straight line extending rearwardly from the front of the piano, the front cover hav ing its right hand end formed with a straight edge between a rear inwardly curved edge and the front edge of this cover, so that the latter has a rear corner at the rear end of said curved edge, in rear of the corner formed at the rear end of said straight edge, the meeting edges of said covers extending from said rear corner to a point on said straight line that is substantially nearer the front of the piano than is said rear right hand corner, and said rear cover having an outwardly curved rear and right hand edge that terminates at the rear corner, the piano casing having a vertical inwardly curved side wall section disposed below and conforming to said rear curved edg of the front cover.

10. A structure as specified in claim 9, said casing section comprising a separately formed panel terminating at its opposite ends at the opposite ends of said rear curved edge of the front cover, this panel thereby having its concave side facing outwardly and rearwardly at the right hand side of the piano.

11. A structure as specified in claim 9, said vertical section and the adjacent portion of said casing below said right hand end of said front cover extending below the bottom of the rear portion of the casing.

12. A structure as specified in claim 9, said front cover being removable bodily by forward displacement in the plane thereof, and said rear cover being hinged at its left edge.

13. A structure as specified in claim 9, said front cover being removable bodily by forward displacement in the plane thereof, and said rear cover being hinged at its left edge, having a well forming a sound outlet in the front cover, with a music rack in said well, hinged to the front edge of the latter, and removable with the front cover as a single flat unit.

14. In a piano casing, a straight right hand side section terminating at front and rear corners for the right hand end of the front portion of the piano, an inwardly curved panel having its front end terminating at said rear corner, so that its entirely concave outer side faces laterally and rearwardly of the piano, at the right side thereof, and an outwardly curved rear side wall section having its front end terminating at the rear end of said inwardly curved panel, which latter is entirely convex on its inner side.

15. A grand piano casing having front and rear top cover sections, in combination with the separable fastening means for the right and left ends of the front cover section, on the upper edges of the side Walls of the casing, so that the latter is removable bodily from the piano, by forward horizontal sliding movement in the plane thereof.

EVERETT WORTHINGTON. 

